Food crisis in Niger: Plan's response
Photo courtesy of Roger Allen.
Poor rains have caused insufficient cereal harvests and lack of dry grasses for feeding cattle, resulting in an emerging food crisis in Niger.
According to government estimates, harvests have only yielded two-thirds of the needed locally-produced cereals, making more than half of the country’s population vulnerable to food shortage and malnutrition.
The government estimates that approximately 7.8 million people will need short- and medium-term assistance. Tillaberi, one of Plan’s program areas, is one of the two areas classified as extremely vulnerable and requiring highest attention.
Plan is working closely with the government as part of an ongoing national coordination effort in response to the crisis. Our immediate response will focus on food distribution and nutritional support to in the Tillaberi region, with a special focus on vulnerable populations, such as children under five, pregnant and nursing women, people living with disability or HIV and AIDS, and the elderly.
Plan is also coordinating with other non-governmental organizations in order to split roles and avoid overlapping in planned response activities; in the Tillaberi region, for example, Plan, Islamic Relief and Catholic Relief Services have agreed on different roles and zones to cover for their planned food distribution.
